Live life with fine Spanish wines

An expat couple in Madrid recently contacted us about the possibility of putting their Wedding List on our site. Obviously, we are absolutely delighted to participate in such a special occasion and are really enjoying working on how to set up the Wedding List and what to include in it.

Nowadays, when most people have worked for at least a few years before getting married, it is much more difficult to decide what to include in the wedding list as most of the necessities have already been purchased over the years. Hardly anybody needs crockery and cutlery, bed linen, towels, kettle, toaster (or even multiple toasters!) or any of the other myriad items that used to be traditional wedding gifts. So it makes sense for a couple who have all they need in terms of household goods and are both wine-lovers to think about setting up a good cellar to see them through the first years of married life.

In addition to wines, the happy couple has selected a wine cabinet, a range glasses for every occasion, a decanter and a corkscrew. We have been busy researching and sourcing the different brands requested and learning a lot along the way about the different qualities of each of these products. For example, we have been looking into the Riedel “O” stemless wine glasses. At first glance, the idea of tumblers for wine seems a little odd. Haven’t we always been told to hold the wine glass by the stem to avoid altering the temperature of the wine and to prevent our perfume, hand cream, etc masking the aromas of the wine? And isn’t there something nice about the traditional wine glass? Is the traditional wine glass not part of the whole experience? In fact, once you get used to the idea, these stemless glasses can be very attractive and I’m told that they are just as good as traditional glasses for wine-tasting. Plus, for those of us of a more practical nature, they are designed to fit into a dishwasher.

Corkscrews are another item that we just didn’t realise were such a huge market. Despite having visited the Dinastia Vivanco Museum with it’s collection of almost 3,000 corkscrews, we just didn’t know anything about the vast range of corkscrews still being produced. In fact, it seems that more high-tech, complicated corkscrews are being invented all the time. Do they really remove a cork any more efficiently than a good old-fashioned screw-pull? I guess part of the attraction is the design and the feel of more up-market corkscrews.

We have also been investigating wine cabinets and just cannot believe the range on offer – from small cabinets that hold about 20 bottles to huge ones for up to 300 bottles, the different finishes, the different characteristics from electronic controls, humidity control, air filters, interior lighting and ultraviolet protection to temperature control almost requires a degree to work out which one you would choose. It really makes you wish you had one and makes you envy those lucky enough to own one - and the wines to go in it, of course!

The wedding is on the 13th of June and, at Excel Wines, we have earmarked this day in our diaries because we will definitely be toasting the lucky couple with some cava that day.

Sláinte,
Ane Miren

Tags: cava, corkscrew, stemless wine glasses, wedding list, wine cabinets

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 3rd, 2008 at 5:46 pm and is filed under About. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.